What The Mirror Saw
by Angry Pencil Wielder
Summary: It was wrong! All wrong! HE was Zangetsu! Not that Quincy Imposter! Hollowfied. Caged. Hated. Tortured. Chained up in the darkest part of his wielder's soul, Zangetsu is beaten, but not broken. Because if he's anything, it's stubborn and loyal to a fault. And there is NO WAY IN HELL he's going to let his King die! (IchiRuki, ZanSode) Hiatus


What The Mirror Saw

Prologue: Ripped Into Living

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."

-Mark Twain

And so the time has come, it's here  
The silence ends, change is near  
You wait in the balance libertine  
Come into the pantheon

Blinding light and the screaming desire to _protect._ That was the world in which Zangetsu was born into.

He of course knew his name before he even opened his eyes. What kind of zanpakutou would he be if he didn't even know his name?

What he didn't know was _why the hell was he alone?!_ Zanpakutou were not supposed to be born alone.

He knew in the deepest fiber of his being that the soul he was tied to was meant to be with him. But he was alone.

There was no familiar presence, no connection to his wielder. There was no thread of power tethering him to his master's soul, no soft whispers of familiarity.

There. Was. _Nothing!_

It felt so wrong, wrong, wrong, _WRONG_!

Ichigo.

That was the name of his other half. The name of the soul he was born from, born to protect.

And he _WASN'T THERE!_

Swallowing down the crippling loneliness, Zangetsu forced himself to uncurl from the fetal position he had awoken in.

Taking shaky, shallow breath, he got to his feet. Looking around him brought a small bit of comfort. This was his home, a world built out of his wielder's soul.

He was safe here.

His home was bizarre, even he would admit that. A world of floating islands, drifting like clouds above a raging ocean.

Twisting out of the islands were hundreds of ancient trees, rising like proud citadels above the deep blue waters. Each island was home to a memory, a fraction of the things his wielder held dear. He could see in the distance the Kurosaki Clinic flouting like the rest.

Looking around, Zangetsu saw he was on the largest of the islands. It stretched on for miles and miles in all directions. He was standing on the edge of a cliff over the twisting waves beneath gave the sword a view of the entire world.

Zangetsu glanced at the towering forest behind him.

"Might as well explore." He muttered to himself with a shrug, choosing a random direction.

Walking between the ageless trees, Zangetsu was surprised to hear the sounds of wildlife. Birdsong and insect chirps filled the cool air. The sounds were eerie. Their music sounded just as much like an orchestra of strings as it did natural animal calls.

But at the same time it was unbelievably pleasant.

Some time into his walk (Zangetsu couldn't really tell time in this world of eternal sunset), the soft trickling sound of flowing water joined the chorus.

Following the sound, the zanpakutou found a creek running peacefully over smooth rocks.

Zangetsu knelt over the running water. He blinked slowly at the face staring back at him from the mirror surface the water cast.

He looked just as odd as the world in which he lived. Zangetsu was dressed in long white cloths he had no name for. His hair was a mess of thick white strands that couldn't seem to decide if they wanted to defy gravity or not.

His skin seemed a bit too pale to be healthy, but Zangetsu knew instinctually there was nothing wrong with him. It was just how he looked.

Bright golden eyes glowed in the twilight dark surrounding him. He had odd black markings covering what bare skin he could see.

Curious, Zangetsu took off the shirt-thingy to see of the tattoos (at least he though they were tattoos) covered the rest of them.

They did.

"Heh, cool." The zanpakutou grinned, tracing the markings with a finger. He shrugged back on the top, then made to leave the stream when he heard a sound that was _most certainly not supposed to be there._

It was a woman screaming.

 __- _  
Welcome to the universe  
Welcome to the universe_

It didn't take Zangetsu long to find the source of the furious yells. He could hear her from the other side of his wielder's inner world after all.

Many floating islands later, what Zangetsu found wasn't anything like he was expecting.

First off, the entire island was frozen. Not a 'frost covered' sort of frozen. It was entirely encased in ice.

Zangetsu's golden eyes narrowed. What the hell was going on here?

He leapt gracefully from his perch in the air to the ice-trapped earth below. He walked toward the sound of angry yelling, careful not to slip.

The sword spirit had just ducked beneath a white-frosted tree when he felt a small whoosh of air.

It was only because of his impressive reflexes that Zangetsu didn't find himself suddenly short one head.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Screamed his attacker.

Zangetsu leapt backwards and away from the deadly sword poised for his throat.

"What am _I_ doing here?!" He snapped. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

His attacker paused, allowing Zangetsu the chance to study her. She was a good deal shorter than him, with long purple-silver hair and skin as pale as his. She was dressed in an elegant white dress tied with two sashes, one a soft pink, the other green. In her hands she held the most beautiful sword Zangetsu had ever seen (granted, he'd never actually seen another sword before, but he just knew this one was especially beautiful).

The woman's cold grey eyes narrowed, and before Zangetsu could speak a word, she was on him once more.

Once again instinct saved him from an unfortunate death (could he even be killed in here?).

From seemingly nowhere, Zangetsu unsheathed a sword of his own. It was whiter than the snow surrounding them, long as he was tall, and _alive._

The blade wasn't so much a blade as it was a force of pure, living energy. It was _him_.

Zangetsu felt himself in the blade, felt his will and his soul echoing within its pale fire like a heartbeat.

Without thought, he knew how to wield the blade.

He _was_ the blade. They were one.

With the slightest thought, the white fire he held condensed into an actual sword. It was a proud blade, sharper than any other weapon, stronger than diamond, with an appearance wicked beyond anything either of them had seen.

A grin just as crazed as the blade in his hand spread across Zangetsu's face. Without thought or care, he leapt at the invading spirit.

Their blades clashed, sparks flew, and the song of battle rang around them.

The woman unleashed a wave of ice. Zangetsu countered with an inferno of red. She slashed. He stabbed.

Parry, block, dodge, jump, slash, repeat.

Zangetsu's grin only grew as they fought. The woman seemed to become more and more concerned as the battle continued.

Her concern was cut short when the tip of the other's blade slid between her fingers and her hilt, causing not even a cut, as if by magic.

With a flick of his wrist, Zangetsu tore the other spirit's weapon from her grasp.

She stared wide eyed at him, her mouth opened just the slightest in her shock. It was actually pretty funny looking.

The ice blade spun in the air before being snatched up in Zangetsu's left hand. He held both blades casually, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"H-how did you do that?" The invading spirit gasped.

Zangetsu shrugged. "Instinct."

The woman's brow rose, her shock slowly giving way to annoyance. "Instinct?"

"Yup, instinct. Ya could pro'bly use some yerself. Then maybe ya wouldn' have been beaten so eas'ly."

The woman grit her teeth. "Why you-"

"Ah, ah, ah." Zangetsu scolded, waving her sword back and forth. "You don' have a weapon, remember? Not smart ta charge inta battle against an enemy strong'r than ya without' a way ta protect yerself." He advised.

"But I _do_ have a way to protect myself." She lifted her hand and pointed a limp finger. "Haduo number four: _Byakurai_!"

Zangetsu barely dodged the bolt of lightning that sprung from the woman's fingertip. "Whoa." He looked at the other spirit with a new respect. "What was _that_?"

The ice blade moved into a ready stance, but didn't attack. Rather, she chose to answer Zangetsu's inquiry. "It's the fourth hadou of the shinigami _'demon arts'_ , kidou."

Zangetsu stared at her with interest. "Cool." He absently started to twirl the other's sword form between his fingers, something she seemed greatly annoyed with.

"So, what's yer name and what're ya doin' in my wielder's inner world?"

That caused her to pause. "Your wielder's… inner world? So that's where I am?"

"Didn' I just say tha'?"

She ignored him, instead looking down at her feet, chin in hand, as she pondered. "Damnit, that boy must have absorbed all of Rukia's power. That's why I'm stuck here. But how…?" Her eyes snapped back up to stare at Zangetsu.

"But, wait. You're a zanpakutou."

"Now what have it away?"

Again she ignored him. "How is it possible for a mortal to have a zanpakutou?!"

Zangetsu just shrugged. "Ya never answered me, wha's yer name?"

The female spirit paused in her part ranting-part panicking to stare at him oddly. Finally, "My name is Sode no Shirayuki."

"Zangetsu." He held his hand out to shake. "A pleasure."

Sode no Shirayuki stared at it like it were a dead animal. Zangetsu retracted his hand with a huff. "Fine, be that way."

Suddenly, he tossed Sode's sword at her. The white spirit was caught unaware and nearly cut herself.

"Now," Zangetsu started, a strange gleam in his golden eyes, "why don' you tell me wha' ya meant by 'that boy absorbin' Rukia's powers'?"

 __- _  
If there's a past into the clear  
We better take the pace  
Erase this face  
In constant search for everything  
_-

The time following Sode no Shirayuki's appearance in Ichigo's inner world were tense, and often ended in a fight (which Zangetsu almost always won).

But as they days spread into weeks, the two zanpakutou started to tolerate each other. Toleration soon gave way to fondness, and Zangetsu found himself truly enjoying Shira's company. Zangetsu, being, well, Zangetsu, decided Sode no Shirayuki was much too long a name and shortened it to Shira, much to the female spirit's annoyance.

When Zangetsu found that the nickname ticked her off, he only used it more.

But like their attitude toward each other, the nickname soon became fond rather than mocking.

Zangetsu was honestly thankful for Shira's presence. She kept the crippling loneliness at bay. She helped him forget that he was alone, that Ichigo didn't even know he existed.

Their days usually consisted of 'friendly' spars, games of tag using shunpo, and kidou lessons.

"Zangetsu, you have to use the incantation!"

"Pft! Why do I gotta say all tha' long ass shit, huh? It jus' gets in tha' way. Ya know my spells are strong enough without' the chant."

Shira gave Zangetsu him her famous bitch-face. "Because I said so." She snapped. "Besides, what you learn, Ichigo will learn, when he finally gets his own powers, the moron."

Zangetsu snorted. "Yeah, he is pretty pathetic, isn't he? Seriously, wha's with that stupid sword? I's hideous!"

Shira crossed her arms. "I will agree with you there." Her grin then transformed into a terrifying serene smile that promised a painful death. "But you _will_ use the incantation."

Zangetsu found a bead of sweat roll down the back of his head. Shira was giving him her 'smile of death'. No one fucked with Shira's smile if death. She'd once told him she's learned it from the zanpakutou of Captain Unohana herself.

"Y-yes ma-am."

Shira's smile turned sickly-sweet, much like the one Rukia sported.

Zangetsu took a deep breath and lifted his hand, pointing two fingers at a distant tree. "Scattered beast bones! Spire, Crimson Crystal, Steel-something, Wind, move the fuck over, and, ah goddamnit! Hadou Eighty-Eight: _Raikouhou_!"

A massive bolt of yellow lightning sprung from Zangetsu's fingers and tore into the far tree, which exploded on impact.

Shira just stared at her fellow zanpakutou with a blank expression. "Well… that's one way to do it…"

* * *

 _You wait in the balance libertine  
Come into the pantheon  
Welcome to the universe  
A new day has begun_

* * *

 **** **"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star." -Friedrich Nietzsche**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** _I don't own Bleach, the quotes, or the song._

 **Song:** _''Welcome to the Universe'_ by 30 Seconds to Mars


End file.
